


A Haunted House Can Be A Home

by mrs_d



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (I just really love the original Bewitched series okay?), Bewitched - Freeform, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween movies, Light Angst, Multi, Seasonal, The Witch - Freeform, horror movies, spoilers for The Witch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-23
Packaged: 2018-08-24 05:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8359030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_d/pseuds/mrs_d
Summary: “How can you say it was a good movie?” Steve asks, leaning back in his chair. “Doesn’t seem like the plot made any sense.”Bucky tsks and gives him an almost pitying look. “Stevie, you don’t watch a movie like this for the plot.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to Hekkenfeldt for help with some of the trickier bits of this one.

“So, then she wakes up and goes into the barn, and she’s talking to the black goat off-camera, okay? And the goat says—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Steve interrupts, holding up his hand. Buck’s animated, his eyes bright with excitement the way that Steve doesn’t get to see too often, and Steve’s almost sad to cut him off, but he has to know. “The goat can _actually_ talk?”

“Well, sort of,” Bucky explains. “I think the goat’s supposed to be the devil, the devil incarnate.”

“Sounds like something my mother would say,” Steve mutters.

“Yeah,” Bucky snorts. “About me.”

Steve chuckles, sips his peppermint tea and looks around the Starbucks; even at four in the morning, it’s half-full of people. Some of them look like they’re on their way to or from work, while the rest of them are night owls who have been here longer than he and Bucky have. Steve guesses that they make for one of each group tonight, given that he’s coming off a grueling work day, of sorts, and Bucky just doesn’t sleep much.            

Bucky takes a drink of his expensive pumpkin coffee and gives it the little, seemingly involuntary smile that he always does. Then he sets it down to go back to explaining the movie that he and Sam had watched tonight while waiting for Steve to arrive.

(Steve was late, as usual. Bucky was the only one still awake when he came home. Or rather, came home, showered away the blood and grime, and realized he wasn’t going to sleep any time soon.)

“So, yeah,” Bucky says. “The goat turns into a man, or, well, the devil — he had this little moustache thing. He gets Thomasin to sign his book, and then she follows the goat into the woods. There’s a whole bunch of witches there, all naked and chanting, dancing around the fire. And then—”

“Sorry, I’m confused,” Steve interrupts again. “I thought there was just one witch. The lady with the dark hair and the red lips, the one who kissed the boy?”

“Well, no, that’s the mystery,” says Bucky, gesturing like he’s teaching a class. “There was that one, the rabbit witch, and then there was the raven witch, who killed the baby at the beginning.”

“And the goat was their master,” Steve concludes, a little skeptically. “Was he there all along? Did the family bring the goat with them when they moved out to the farm?”

“I don’t think so,” Bucky replies, but he waves his hand like he’s pushing aside the doubt that Steve has just raised. “But, see, that’s the neat thing. The movie ends, and we don’t know what was really going on in the woods or why.”

Steve nods thoughtfully. “Okay... But did they ever say if it had anything to do with the dad?”

“Not really.”

“So, all that stuff about how he got kicked out of the church, and how Caleb wasn’t baptized — the movie never dealt with that?”

“Uh,” says Bucky, and then he shakes his head. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Then how can you say it was a good movie?” Steve asks, leaning back in his chair. “Doesn’t sound like the plot made any sense.”

Bucky tsks and gives him an almost pitying look. “Stevie, you don’t watch a movie like this for the _plot_ ,” he explains. “It’s the atmosphere, and the creepy music, and— I told you about the raven, right?”

“Yes, you told me about the raven,” Steve says patiently, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. “That did sound pretty spooky.”

“Exactly,” Bucky agrees. “It was a good movie, especially for this time of year. So what if it had a — what do you call it? — an _enigmatic_ ending?”

Steve can’t help it — he bursts out laughing. Bucky just looks so proud of himself, like a kid showing off his new vocabulary. The tilt to his head, the cocky, lopsided smirk — for a second, Bucky looks exactly like he used to, a long, long time ago, and the joy of having him back is all Steve can feel for one blinding moment.

“There you are,” says a lovely and familiar female voice.

Steve turns, sees Sharon and Sam approaching, their arms around each other like their hands are in each other’s back pockets, which they do sometimes, making Steve’s heart melt with how cute they can be.

“Is my boyfriend being funny again?” Sam asks. “Or is that just his face?”

“ _My_ boyfriend thinks I’m hilarious, thank you very much,” Bucky retorts, even as Sharon’s kissing his stubble-rough cheek.

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty,” Sharon chides, exchanging a knowing look with Steve before she kisses him, too, her lips soft and warm against his for a long moment.

“Rough night?” she asks more seriously, pulling back and looking him up and down.

Steve knows she can see the places he’s still healing. He half-shrugs, deflects. “Not anymore.”

“How’d the mission go?” Sam asks.

Steve shakes his head a little and kisses him, too.

“He won’t talk about it yet,” Bucky answers for him.

“So you and the insomniac here decided to go out for lattes?” says Sam. “I guess that makes sense.”

“The caffeine probably isn’t doing you any favors, though, hon,” Sharon adds gently.

Warmed by her casual endearment, Steve shows her his cup. “Don’t worry, it’s just peppermint tea.”

Sharon smiles, and Sam nods approvingly. Steve decides they don’t need to know that Bucky’s cup has an extra two shots of espresso in it.

“Bucky was just telling me about that scary movie you guys watched tonight,” he says instead. 

Sam’s face brightens. “So good, right? You missed out.” He nudges Sharon. “You, too.”

“Nope,” Sharon replies. “I was perfectly happy going to bed, thank you. I hate horror movies.”

“Then what do you watch around Halloween?” Sam asks, incredulous.

“ _Bewitched_ ,” Sharon says, like it’s obvious.

Sam makes a face. “What’s that?” Bucky asks.

Sharon scoffs. “Come on,” she says airily, disentangling herself from Sam, so she can offer Steve her arm and lead the way up to the counter. “I’ll get you some refills to go. Prepare to be amazed, boys.”

Twenty minutes later, they’re in front of the TV. Steve’s cuddled up next to Sam on the couch, with Bucky sitting on the floor between his feet. Sharon hits play, settles against Steve’s chest, and Steve starts rubbing circles into her lower back.

“Endora’s my favorite,” she says, when Samantha’s mother teleports Darrin to the hotel lobby for the second time.

“She’s no Blair Witch,” Sam protests, and Sharon reaches over Steve to flick Sam’s thigh. “Ow.”

“Saw that coming,” Bucky mutters. Then he laughs, because Samantha’s nonsense spell includes the words, _B-U-C-K spells Buck!_

“Well, how about that,” he says with wonder, as he presses his head into Steve’s thigh — it’s about as affectionate as he gets with Steve outside the bedroom. “This show’s pulling ahead in my favor, Sam.”

“Wait till we get to _The Craft_ ,” Sam assures him. “I’ll win you back.”

“Ugh,” says Sharon. “No way. He’ll love _Sabrina the Teenage Witch_.”

“That sounds amazing,” Steve murmurs. He’s fighting to keep his eyes open — the fatigue of the long night on top of three long days is creeping in.

Sam’s lips brush his temple. “It’s not,” Sam says softly. “I see your _Sabrina_ , Shar, and I raise you _Sleepy Hollow._ ”

Steve feels Sharon pull away, and when she comes back her hair’s no longer tickling his neck. He sighs contentedly, pulls her a little closer, lets his aching eyelids drop.

“ _Hocus Pocus_ ,” she mumbles.

There’s a gentle click, and Steve realizes that that must be Bucky, turning off the lamp, moving in that silent way he does. The TV light still flickers against Steve’s closed eyes, but it’s almost silent, just a hushed laugh track in the background.

“ _Paranormal Activity_ ,” Sam whispers. “But only the first one.”

Sharon laughs, just a touch of air against Steve’s skin. _“Casper_.”

“Two types of people,” Bucky concludes, re-settling against Steve’s thigh.

 _And together we’re four_ , Steve thinks. _We’re home_.

But he can’t speak, can’t even move his mouth except to smile as he breathes deep, inhales the scent of Sam’s aftershave combined with Sharon and Bucky’s shampoo, and finally drifts into sleep.


End file.
